Angels Bullpen of Doom Needs Minors Fixing

Hopefully it will come from Mike Scioscia. It might have to come from Arte Moreno and it might have to come from Jerry Dipoto. There will need to be an announcement soon that Ernesto Frieri is no longer the closer for the Angels. After Wednesday night's display of epic gutlessness, fear and wide-eyed bewilderment on the mound there is absolutely no excuse to put a man so out of whack in both mechanics and psychology back onto a pitching mound in a high-leverage situation, let alone to close a game.

Let's hope that the announcement comes before the Angels deliver another disheartening meltdown and snatch the W out of the hands of a deserving starting pitcher.

Right now in the minor leagues, the Angels have Cam Bedrosian and R.J. Alvarez, relief pitchers who are striking out the competition at the rate of almost 2K per 1 Inning Pitched. If Frieri were to suddenly develop a sore arm and need to rest and rehabilitate (code for "go down to the minors and figure it out") it might give the Angels a chance to bring this talent up the pipeline. As for 40-man roster concerns, the Halos could simply put Josh Hamilton, Sean Burnett or Kole Calhoun on the sixty day disabled list to make room for these future stars.

The likes of Fernando Salas, Michael Kohn and Kevin Jepsen need to be challenged on the depth chart by the young blood that is excelling in the minors. Even if it is April, time is slipping away.